County crews faced the daunting task of not only repairing a ruptured water line, but also filling in a large sinkhole, but nonetheless, the Main Hill Road reopened to all east and westbound traffic at 4:30 p.m.

Rob Lamb/Monitor

County work crews are shown getting started on repairs to a water main break that created a sinkhole along East Road. Officials are uncertain when repairs will be completed, and the road remains closed in the meantime.

Traffic is bring diverted at De Colores Restaurant near Pajarito Cliffs while Department of Utilities crews replace a broken water main pipe and fill a large sink hole caused by rushing water from the damaged pipe.

Los Alamos Police Ofc. Eric Wilhoit this morning in front of De Colores Restaurant near Pajarito Cliffs diverts traffic from N.M. 502 over to the N.M. 4 truck route while Department of Utilities crews replace a broken water main pipe and fill a large sink hole.

Utilities workers assess the rupture in a county cast iron water main pipe on N.M. 502 early this morning, which created a large sink hole and caused the road's closure for an as yet undetermined period of time.

Los Alamos County officials report that they were notified of a water main break at 1 a.m. Monday morning that caused the Main Hill Road to be shut down.

East Road had to be closed to traffic just east of Camino Entrada, but those who work in the East Gate area were being allowed through the barricades. Water service was also unavailable in the East Gate area.

Traffic coming in to Los Alamos was diverted at the Y and sent up the truck route.

Law enforcement officials had to reroute commuters and suggested they use Pajarito Road in White Rock in an effort to eliminate morning drive-time congestion on the Truck Route. Early morning callers to the Los Alamos Monitor office reported significant delays.

Julie Williams-Hill with the Department of Public Utilities said the water main break created a large sinkhole that added an extra dimension to the scope of repairs. There is no estimate of how much water was lost following the break, but crews were also working to fill in areas alongside East Road where the rushing water washed out the shallow drainage ditch.

An unidentified county employee told a bystander that about 1 million gallons of water rushed from the gaping hole before water service to that area could be shut down.

A Los Alamos Police officer on patrol first noticed water in the roadway about 1 a.m. Monday.

Check out exclusive video of the repairs underway below. See Tuesday's Los Alamos Monitor for more details on this story.